martes, 17 de diciembre de 2013

Energy for all in 2030: Perceptions from African civil society on the Post 2015 strategy on energy access and the role of EU cooperation.






Extract from a discussion brief prepared by
 


Patricia Vilchis Tella (SEI, Sweden)
Ishmael Edjekumhene (KITE, Ghana)
Pol Arranz-Piera (UPC, Spain)       


One of the main outcomes of the Rio+20 Conference was the agreement to launch a process that should develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), built upon the Millennium Development Goals and converge with the post 2015 development agenda. UN Member states set themselves the goal to facilitate an "inclusive and transparent intergovernmental process open to all stakeholders, with a view to developing global sustainable development goals to be agreed by the General Assembly"[1]

 
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), with their experience on a wide range of areas, from aid and relief, advocacy and campaigning, training, research, to  project implementation on the ground - in particular in remote rural areas of poor countries - have a deep understanding of the problems that hinder sustainable development, and therefore have an important contribution to make to the +2015 process, not only on the development of the values, criteria and indicators for the new SDGs, but also in planning its specific implementation.
Now that universal energy access is included as goal number seven in the draft of the SDGs, the European Union has an important role to play beyond being a major donor for project implementation. This broader role includes capacity building and facilitation of African organizations participation in shaping the SDGs, so that the genuine voices of small and remote organizations are also heard.
During 2013, the Energy for All 2030 team (Stockholm Environment Institute, Practical Action, the Technical University of Catalonia and Educon), together with KITE, have worked to enrich the dialogue between the UN High-level panel of eminent persons on the Post-2015, the European Parliament and African CSOs. The team conducted a survey to gather the views of CSOs working on energy access in Africa about the Post 2015 process, the role of energy access in the achievement of the SDGs in Africa and the performance of EU institutions as major supporters. The results of the survey were presented and discussed at a high level event at the European Parliament in Brussels in June 2013, with representatives of Civil Society, the EU and UN.

One of the key outcomes of the 2012 Earth Summit (Rio+20) was the agreement by member states to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), to build on the Millennium Development Goals and converge with the post-2015 development agenda. According to the Rio+20 Outcome Document – The Future We Want – the SDGs are expected to have the following characteristics: 
- Should be action-oriented, concise and easy to communicate, limited in number, inspirational, global in nature and universally applicable to all countries while taking into account different national realties and include targets and indicators;
·       -   Focused on priority areas for achievement of SD and driven by governments with involvement of all stakeholder

Consequently, UN Member States are required to establish “inclusive and transparent intergovernmental process opened to all stakeholders” in developing SDGs to be endorsed by UN General Assembly.

It is against this background the Energy for All 2030 Project[1] launched an online survey among African CSOs working in the energy sectors to, among other things, ascertain the extent to which they have been involved in the consultations leading to the development of the SDGs. The survey was conducted between March and May, 2013 and covered 3 main areas: the participation of CSOs in the SDGs process; the role of energy in the SDGs; and the level and quality of collaboration between CSOs and European Union Actors. The survey was administered to a total of 400 CSOs (drawn from NGOs, Research Institutions and Industry Associations), and obtained a response rate of 17%.

The survey had two parts: a questionnaire administered online, complemented by 9 interviews of key CSOs in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde (ECOWAS coverage), Burundi and Kenya.


The main findings of the survey, which are summarized in rest of the paper, were presented at a high level event at the European Parliament in Brussels on June 5th, 2013[1].

An inclusive process?

UN institutional efforts are being put to facilitate the drafting of the SDGs as a very open process, reportedly with consultations to more than 5,000 CSOs, surveys of over half a million individuals on priorities for the future, country and regional thematic consultations, as well as open contributions on the internet. This point was particularly stressed by Mrs. Betty Maina (Member of the UN Secretary general’s High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda and Chief Executive of Kenya’s Association of Manufacturers), during her presentation in the high level event held in the EU Parliament.
To assess the level of participation of African CSOs, in the first part of the survey respondents were asked to indicate the extent to which they have been involved in the SDG process. Their responses are presented in Figure 1 which shows that nearly half of the respondents (47%) said they were not aware of the SDGs process compared. For the 53% who were aware of the process, only 30% reported that their organisations have been directly involved in the process. Some of these CSOs were well-known and active in the Africa’s energy sector, hence this finding raises concern about the quality and depth of the SDGs consultation process. The drafting process of the SDGs has been said to be very consultative (cite) since the surveyed.
 
Concerns were also raised with the structure of the consultation. As one respondent reported:  if you look over internet you will find three or more official sites; the future we want, the site for the high level panel, UN sustainable development …, I think it is confusing, it may be difficult for people that are not familiar with the process to know where to look!” 

During the debate at the EU Parliament, the convenience of on line information gathering was discussed. A majority of the African organizations based on rural areas would never get to participate, “maybe they don´t even have a computer, even if they did internet connection may not be available...”a participant said. The difficulty to access reliable internet connections is seen as a main barrier for African rural CSOs to be able to engage in online consultations, let alone videoconferences or virtual meetings. As an alternative, interviewees from Ghana and Burkina Faso have indicated that joint CSO sessions could be planned and organized around good IT facilities (such as research centers like KNUST in Ghana or 2ie in Burkina Faso) on a trimester or semester basis, so that rural CSOs could meet and share good online connectivity; but dedicated budget would be needed to mobilize these organizations.

What can be done to improve African CSO participation?

To the question “What do you think can be done to facilitate African civil society’s meaningful participation in the development of the SDGs?” the respondents proffered the following solutions:
·         Access: the process should be made more accessible to African CSOs by adapting it to the Africa context in terms of access to information, existing capacity and distances.
·         Facilitation: African CSOs needs to be supported to take part in the process in the form of financial support to attend meetings, etc.
·         Process: There is the need to struck a balance between face-to-face meetings and virtual meetings; and,
·         Inclusiveness: The process should be made more inclusive by enabling small and local organisations to effectively participate in the consultations. And broaden the spectrum of consulted organisations: there needs to be more outreach to grassroots organisations—not just those focused on energy but especially those dealing with agriculture, women and poverty alleviation—so they understand how additional access to energy can help them improve the situations in their communities.

Definition of Energy Priorities in the SDGs

The High Level Panel recognizes the centrality of energy within the goals for development. During the event in the EU Parliament, the HLP representative, Betty Maina gave her opinion about the draft of the SDG dedicated to energy: “The goal has targets on efficiency, access and expansion on energy and focus on renewable energies. This goal is critical to move forward in Africa as it is central to production. We would like to see expanded capacity in terms of energy generation for the continent, it will be very critical for boosting business. There will be no economic growth without energy. So I think that the centrality for energy in Africa is energy for productive activities. For Kenya’s Association of Manufacturers, the organization I represent, the quality and quantity of energy we have is a concern. Africa is a very dynamic economy. Expected to grow around 6 or 7% a year. This will require an expansion of our energy capacity.

Respondents to the CSO survey were asked to indicate their prioritized energy needs and services they would want incorporated in the SDGs definition. Results show that improved access to energy at the household level followed by access for productive applications are the two priorities of the respondents. It also suggests that the respondents do not care too much about the source of the energy being used hence the lower priority given to low carbon options.

As it can be seen the responses contrasts with Mrs Maina’s speech, however respondents answers in the survey and the open interviews, regarding this matter varied a lot from country to country and between regions. On one hand organizations in countries like Kenya and Ghana that may be more advanced in the race for energy for all prioritized energy for productive uses while countries like Burundi, Cameroon or Nigeria prioritized household energy the most. The importance of considering different countries conditions was also discussed during the event in the Parliament, highlighting the importance of facilitating the participation of grassroots organizations in the planning an implementation of the SDGs at local level as they have the expertise and knowledge of the area and can contribute to develop an effective strategy to achieve energy for all.

Level of Satisfaction with European Collaboration

The European Union remains as the major institutional donor to development action worldwide, and has a long track of support to energy access. Respondents to the survey were asked to indicate their level of satisfaction with the current level of collaboration with European administration (EC in Brussels, in country EU Delegations, EU related multilateral organisations), private sector and CSOs in six main areas – funding, training, networking, dissemination, regulatory assistance and technical assistance.

The majority of respondents are quite happy with how the EU administration has been collaborating with them in the area of funding and dissemination with over 60% and 55% of respondents respectively indicating that they were either satisfied or very satisfied with EU in these areas. Also, training and regulatory assistance are the areas that respondents are least satisfied. In the interviews, the role of the EU as the main donor in energy access action is well recognised, but also concerns about long bureaucracy and formulation cycles (sometimes over several years) have been raised.

With regards to their dealings with European private sector entities, respondents were quite satisfied in the areas of equipment supply and technical assistance. In the interviews, concerns about discontinuous presence of EU suppliers in some African countries have been raised, as a barrier to assure proper spare parts provision and duly coverage of equipment warranties.

Regarding European CSOs, networking and dissemination were the two main areas that respondents found quite satisfactory as far as their dealings with European CSOs are concerned.

Future Collaborations Between EU and Sub-Saharan Africa

Respondents to the survey were also asked to indicate priority areas for future collaboration between EU and SSA stakeholders and the following were the areas listed:
·        31% of the respondents mentioned funding as the main contribution of EU institutions to achieve the SDG on energy, however the focus was not on project implementation per se, but providing funds for capacity building, EU-SSA private and public partnerships and the implementation of pilots
·        Capacity Building; In an open interview, a representative of the Organisation pour la défense de l'Environnement au Burundi said: “EU funding should strengthen the technical capacity of the organizations and civil society in the South but also facilitate technological exchange and access to equipment because this aspect sorely lack. There should be more scholarships oriented to innovative sectors so that the beneficiaries can contribute to the development of their country once returne.”
·        Joint Innovation and Technology Adaptation; Intensify access to modern energy in rural areas; Co-design of programmes and interventions (African and European experts) training and research programmes on energy access, renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency; facilitate the conception of new solutions which take into consideration social, environmental, technical, economical aspects.
·        More focus needs to be placed on developing and implementing innovative financing mechanisms that allow SMEs to access finance for project development and execution, and that allow civil society to participate in and develop less economically viable but vital projects. More concrete capacity building and training for SMEs and entrepreneurs in the development of bankable projects is vital.

Conclusions

   In order to guarantee a real participative process in the next steps of the post 2015 process and the adaptation and implementation of the SDGs at the local level, there is a need to implement innovative mechanisms that allow organizations in remote areas and with scarce resources to contribute and express their opinion.
   The EU has an important role to play to facilitate the implementation in achieving the goal of Universal energy access, not only as one of the major funders of energy projects but also facilitating investment,  private sector partnerships between regions, and advocating for a balanced participation of African organizations in the  post-2015 process.







[1] http://practicalaction.org/lighting-up-the-dark
 





[1] Sustainable development goals: Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform. http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/index.php?menu=1300